Mussoorie, June 15 -- The number of pilgrims for the Char Dham Yatra has crossed 2.7-million mark, with 2,767,186 pilgrims visiting all four major Dhams till Thursday evening, since the start of the yatra season on April 30, according to an official statement released on Friday. Of 2.7 million, 994,031 pilgrims visited Kedarnath, followed by Badrinath with 771,369 pilgrims, 452,409 pilgrims visited Gangotri, 449,495 pilgrims visited Yamunotri, 95,660 pilgrims visited Hemkund Sahib, and 4,222 visited Gaumukh till Thursday evening, according to the state emergency control room bulletin. On Thursday, 74,572 pilgrims visited Char Dham shrines, of which 19,237 visited Badrinath Dham, 6,826 visited Hemkund Sahib, 24,551 pilgrims visited Kedarnath, the highest among all major Dhams on the yatra route. Gangotri recorded 12,351 and Yamunotri 11,526 footfall, the bulletin stated. "Kedarnath Dham has seen the highest number of visitors since the opening of the portal on May 2 despite the frequent spell of snow, rain in past one month and the token system introduced by district administration is helping in managing the pilgrim movement at Kedarnath," said Anand Shukla, temple priest Kedarnath. In the first 43 days of the yatra last year, over 2.6 million pilgrims had visited Char Dham shrines. Char Dham Yatra this year witnessed a 12% dip in footfall in the first month this year compared to 2024, according to experts from the Social Development Community Foundation. Anoop Nauityal, founder of Social Development Communities (SDC) foundation in Dehradun, said: "The first month of the ongoing Char Dham Yatra in 2025 saw a noticeable decline in pilgrim turnout compared to the same period in 2024. According to an analysis conducted by SDC Foundation, a total of 1,717,619 devotees visited the Char Dham shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri in the first month this year. In comparison, the yatra recorded 1,956,269 pilgrims during the same one-month period last year, marking a decrease of 238,650 pilgrims or an overall drop of 12%. But now it has again picked up as the overall numbers increased this year in the first 43 days compared to last year." The initial decline in numbers was due to Indo-Pak tensions and inconsistent weather conditions, he added....